Taking place from Saturday 6th to Sunday 14th October at Fiera di Genova, the fifty-second edition of the Genoa International Boat Show was officially announced yesterday at Genoa Chamber of Commerce.
International Boat Show of Genoa
900 exhibitors are going to take part in the Boat Show this year – a figure that exceeds last summer’s forecasts and confirms the strong will of boating sector companies to recover from the current crisis. More than 1,400 boats will be on display over a total exhibition area of 200 thousand square metres.
Genoa Boat Show confirms its leadership and its role as a reference event for the international boating industry as a whole in spite of an economic scenario that is a far cry from that of a few years ago, especially as regards the Italian and European markets.
Italian and foreign companies are struggling to maintain existing production and occupational levels and are increasingly focusing on new markets. Against this background, Genoa Boat Show means to prove once more it is an important venue where new products can successfully be presented and relations with both professional operators and the public can be strengthened.
The organisers have worked extremely hard to revive love for the sea through a wide range of sports events, exhibitions and theme initiatives devoted to design and engineering.
The opening day
On Saturday 6th October Italian Deputy Minister for Transport and Infrastructures Mario Ciacca will reach the fairground by sea, inspect the Italian Navy’s guard of honour and attend the flag-hoisting ceremony that will take place on the terrace of Pavilion B.
All local political representatives will be present at the ceremony: the President of the Liguria Regional Council, Claudio Burlando, Genoa Mayor, Marco Doria, and the Extraordinary Commissioner of Genoa Provincial Council, Piero Fossati.
For the first time in 52 years, boating sector businessmen will not take part in the opening ceremony, as a symbolic silent protest by this industrial sector, which is simply demanding to be able to keep working and contribute to strengthening Italy’s economy.
After the flag-hoisting ceremony (and this will be an absolute novelty at this year’s Boat Show), at 11.30 am, a debate devoted to the boating sector and the Government and chaired by Class CNBC Editor-in-Chief Andrea Cabrini will be held at Fieracongressi in the presence of Deputy Minister Ciaccia, President Burlando, UCINA’s President and Fiera di Genova’s Chairwoman.
Guido Improta, Italy’s Undersecretary to the Ministry for Transport and Infrastructures, and Filippo Milone, the Undersecretary to Defence, will also be present at the Show on Saturday 6th.
On that day, the Boat Show will remain open after 6.30 pm. The evening ticket will cost €10 (admission free for children born from 1st January 1998 onwards if accompanied by an adult) and some bars and restaurants will have happy hours and offer special promotions. Visitors will be welcomed by the Riviera Syncopator Brass Band who, in a perfect New Orleans-style, will parade through the boats and pavilions and reach the area in front of Pavilion C: there, the NP Big Band will entertain the public until 9.00 pm with swing and dancing performances featuring the repertoire of great American orchestras from the 1930s and 1940s, from Benny Goodman to Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw. From 9.00 to 10.30 pm, Djset on the sea walk with Radio Monte Carlo’s Dado Funky Poetz dj & music designer.
What’s new in the exhibition layout
The layout of the Boat Show – which extends over four pavilions, two marinas and large outdoor areas overlooking the sea – has evolved over the years to ensure the best possible product arrangement; easily identifiable colour-coded routes will lead visitors to the section they are most interested in: grey will identify accessories, red sailing boats, light blue power boats, and blue mega-yachts. The diving sector will be back at the Show after thirty years in a dedicated area set up by Confisub, while the shopping area will be near the section devoted to tourism, services and electronic equipment in the first gallery of Pavilion S.
Pavilion C has also undergone some major layout changes: a central exhibition area will host the stands of the most important technical/nautical apparel brands and will serve as a temporary show and shopping space, with product presentations, fashion shows, conferences and meetings that will follow a specific schedule, while the shopping area will be open to the public at all times.
Pavilion C will also be the brand-new location of the Sea Theatre, where interesting events will alternate with those of the temporary show & shopping space. Pavilion C will still be hosting B2B meetings; to its more-than-aware public and to professional operators Genoa International Boat Show will once again offer TechTrade, the section devoted to components and accessories for pleasure boating. Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th will be the b2b preferential days.
Sailing boats will be on display in Marina 1, a central location that will ensure high visibility to all participating companies. Sailing accessories and equipment will be in the Mondoinvela area in Pavilion D, which has been reopened specifically to ensure product continuity with the crafts on display in the water.
The flagships
It is the largest motor yacht ever built in Viareggio after Adnan Kashoggi’s fabulous Nabil in the early 1980s: luxury yacht Stella Maris by Viareggio Superyachts is 72.10 metres long, 12.60 metres wide, has a 2270 ton displacement and will be the 2012 Boat Show’s motor flagship. Designed by the Danish super-yacht archistar Espen Øino, the Stella Maris is Viareggio Superyachts’s third project and can boast the highest possible shipbuilding qualitative standards: its level of perfection is comparable to that achieved by the leading German and Dutch shipyards.
72m megayacht Stella Maris by VSY-Viareggio Superyachts at launch
Sports and sea culture
Inspiring, stirring, strengthening love for the sea is one of the main objectives that the 2012 International Boat Show is aiming to achieve through a series of events devoted to sea sports, sea culture, and traditions. A wide range of water sport trials and workshops will be held in the Olympic Village set up by the Italian Sailing Federation and the interactive areas managed by the Italian Power Boating Federation, as well as at the Sea and Sailing Stadium thanks to the Navigar m’è dolce campaign carried out by UCINA to promote sea culture and sports, the support of water sports federations, and the cooperation with Fondazione Carige’s Progetto Giovani sponsored by the Italian Olympic Committee.
A very charming itinerary through Italy’s boating traditions will develop over three theme areas: the first will be devoted to traditional wooden work boats, rigged with Latin sails and perfectly restored; the second will feature historical regatta boats with hulls built by Sangermani and Baglietto; the third will display wooden power boats, led by the mythical Aquarama yacht tender, representing the best Italian tradition of the first post-war years.
The University of Genoa will take part in the Boat Show with the Scuola Politecnica Genovese (and its Master’s Courses in Ship and Yacht Design, Nautical Engineering, and Sustainable Products), which will propose a series of events devoted to the subjects of PhD dissertations, publications, research results, and the activities carried out at an international level, particularly with the Florida International University, the School’s partner in research and post-graduate training. On the occasion of the Boat Show, University training will leave lecture halls and the public will have the opportunity to attend lessons held in a dedicated area inside the stand.
The exhibition Loveboats – Barche come capolavori di Design Contemporaneo (Loveboats – Boats as masterpieces of contemporary design) held at the Villa Croce Museum of Contemporary Art, is a small collection of pictures, drawings and videos of design applications in the boating world. Great architects like Zaha Hadid and internationally-renowned designers like Philip Stark and Mark Newson have created unique, outstanding boats that have become true icons of contemporary design; others, like John Pawson and Piero Lissoni, have chosen to cooperate with the best yacht designers, like Luca Brenta or Lorenzo Argento; and design firms like Lazzarini & Pickering devote the utmost care to the tiniest details of boats, creating real masterpieces to live and cruise on, which are the embodiment of pure creativity.
Services
Visitors will again have available helicopter transfers offered by Novaris, while the Boat Show’s guests will be able to use a “private pier”.
For the first time, exhibitors will be granted a “Gold Card” for their best clients, allowing to take advantage – upon reservation – of a series of dedicated services, including reserved parking spots and the access to the Gold Card Lounge, located on the mezzanine floor of the Blu Pavilion. Catering services too will benefit from a general price-reduction policy and an important “new entry”, with the Genova-Nervi restaurant “The Cook”, featuring Michelin-star cook Ivan Ricchebono, opening this year in Pavilion C Club. Other new services will include a Trenitalia railway ticket counter in the hall of Pavilion C and a parapharmacy also proposing interesting wellness products.
A new online service allows to book 250 parking spots directly from the site www.genoaboatshow.com. The parking spots – on Piazzale Kennedy-Vittorio Veneto, accessible from Corso Marconi (sea side) – will be reserved until 11.00 am of the chosen day at a price of € 18.00. Any remaining parking places will be charged € 12.00.
Sponsors
For the fourth consecutive year the Boat Show’s main sponsor will be Rolex, the Show’s “official watch”. The cooperation with the Banca Carige Group has also been confirmed, while the new, highly innovative FIAT 500 L will make its debut as Boat Show sponsor and will also be available for test drives.
The “Welcoming Project”
Shuttle buses from the airport, the railway stations and the main hotels in town (including three-star hotels) and in the Golfo del Tigullio & a large information stand inside the Show devoted in particular to the promotion of GenovaInBlu: this is the “Welcoming Project” developed by Fiera di Genova and UCINA in cooperation with the City Promotion Board (consisting of Genoa City Council, Provincial Council, Chamber of Comemrce, and Port Authority) and the Liguria Regional Council. Available services will also include a bus connecting the Show to the city centre, where visitors will be able to enjoy shopping or take a tour. Just like last year, bus transfers from the fairground to the city centre will be available: the ‘shopping bus’ during the day and the special GenovaInBlu shuttle bus between 6.00 and 9.00 pm, allowing the public to easily take part in the Boat Show’s “Fringe”.
Opening hours and tickets
Genoa 52nd International Boat Show will be open every day from 10 am to 6.30 pm. On Saturday 6th October the Show will be open until 10.30 pm and will feature a special entertainment programme for the public. The ticket will cost € 15.00, concessions € 13.00. For the first time, this year all children born from 1st January 1998 onwards, if accompanied by an adult, will be able to visit the Show for free throughout the nine days of the event. Tickets can be purchased on-line. Advance sale in all Gruppo Carige’s banks.
A welcoming service developed in cooperation with Terre di Mare will be in place for visitors with disabilities: four-wheeled electrical scooters and wheelchairs will be available.
Boat Show visitors can also take advantage of interesting tourist packages and special fares on Alitalia domestic flights and Skyteam international flights.
